Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
DD Saptagiri to telecast Telugu version of mega serial ‘Swaraj- Bharat ke Swatantrata Sangram ki Samagra Gatha’
Vijayawada, 18th August, 2022
As the country is celebrating the 75th year of Independence, various initiatives were being undertaken by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to commemorate the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. One such effort has been the production of a mega 75-episode serial by Doordarshan— ‘Swaraj – Bharat Ke Swatantrata Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha’ which highlights the journey of the country towards obtaining freedom. Doordarshan Kendra, Vijayawada will telecast the regional version in Telugu from 20th August in its channel DD Saptagiri.
Addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Thursday, Deputy Director General , Doordarshan Kendra, Shri D. Ranganadham said that the serial seeks to recollect with gratitude the sacrifices our forefathers made. The regional version of the 75-episode serial will be telecast at 8 PM every Saturday from August 20 and will be repeated on Sunday from 09:30 PM to 10:30 PM, and on Wednesday and Friday between 11:00 AM to 12:00 noon. The serial will highlight the patriotic fervor of the freedom fighters among which many are unsung heroes of the freedom struggle, he added.
Doordarshan Kendra Programme Head, Dr. Vasumathi Rajan said, apart from Telugu, the mega serial has also been dubbed in eight other regional languages, viz., Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odiya and Assamese; the original being in Hindi and English. She said the serial will also be broadcast on All India Radio from August 20 at 11:00 AM every Saturday.
Hon’ble Prime Minister had the screening of the first episode of Swaraj on Wednesday, with his Council of Ministers, DD officials and IIS officers in Parliament Library auditorium in New Delhi. Earlier, Home Minister Shri Amit Shah launched the mega serial in the first week of August at a function attended by Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Shri Anurag Singh Thakur and Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan.
‘Swaraj - Bharat Ke Swatantrata Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha’, illustrates the glorious history of India’s freedom struggle beginning from the 15th century when Vasco-da-Gama landed in India. This serial will showcase several aspects of Indian history featuring the lives and sacrifices of lesser known heroes of the freedom struggle. The serial being presented in a docu-drama format is well-researched by a team of leading historians. Popular film actor Manoj Joshi plays a stellar role as the narrator of the serial. The serial has a grand production quality and promises to be a visual treat to the viewers.
The content of the mega serial carries a rich repertoire of photographs, films, oral histories, personal memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, multi-lingual regional literature that remained mostly unexplored and largely absent from the public consciousness. Audio-visual representations of such issues, icons, events, organisations will be produced in this larger comprehensive framework of ‘search for Swaraj’ and presented to the public in the form of 75-episode serial of top notch quality production. On screen historical narrative framed in the larger discourse of search and establishment of ‘Swaraj’ in India will help the national and international audiences to understand the real spirit of the nation with a fresh and new perspective giving due recognition to the lesser known heroes of the day.
‘Swaraj’ is envisioned as an iconic serial of Doordarshan which will turn into a national movement inspiring the public especially the youth about India’s rich treasure of history and fill every Indian’s heart with pride!
Doordarshan is also planning to revamp its regional channels by introducing new programmes and new shows with meaningful discussions on current topics. Sharing more details, Doordarshan officials informed that four more serials are in the pipeline to be launched soon. These include ‘Jai Bharati’, ‘Corporate Sarpanch’ and ‘Yeh Dil Mannge More’. These serials have messages of patriotism and women empowerment and will be telecast at prime time on DD National, Monday to Friday, starting from 15th August, 2022. Another serial ‘Suron Ka Eklavya’ has high entertainment value as a reality music show and pays tribute to Bappi Lahiri. It will be telecast on Saturday and Sunday at prime time 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, starting on 14th August, 2022.
A show focusing on start-ups is also coming up on DD News and DD National. ‘Startup Champions 2.0’ showcases journey and success of 46 national award winning start-ups. It will be on DD News on Saturdays 9:00 PM and on Sunday on DD National at 12 noon.
Shri P. Ratnakar, Dy. Director , Doordarshan Kendra, Dr. G. Kondala Rao, Asst. Director , All India Radio, Shri T. Henry Raj, Media & Communication Officer, PIB Vijayawada, Shri B. Venkateswarlu, Programme Executrive, All India Radio, and others were also participated in the press conference.